Transport Committee on March 19th, 2013

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Well, we certainly have the class of the league here.

[Marie Lemay]

We are really representing two separate departments, Infrastructure Canada and the Department of Transport, so it does make sense. But we're very happy to be here.

To answer your question, right now, as you probably know, the flexibility is there to bank and borrow. The next step with the gas tax is actually for the government to decide what the criteria and the terms and conditions are going to be. There's been a lot of consultation over the last year, as you may know, but specifically, over the summer, the two ministers were really out consulting with stakeholders, municipalities, and provinces. So all these things that we've heard are taken into account. Whether there will be adjustments or not is something the government will decide.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Here's another question, if I may. Mr. Fletcher went on at some length about the issues with respect to VIA Rail. Canadians are interesting people; we love our railroads. We don't ride them, but we love them—at least we love the spirit of them. Yet when he spoke, he made the comment that based on certain commitments the government has made and on what VIA is doing with regard to some of the investments we've made, he could imagine possibly 200,000 new passengers taking the train. Where are those people coming from?

Go ahead, anyone who feels qualified to answer.

[Marie Lemay]

We go back to the Transport side.

[Scott Streiner]

I wouldn't wish to speculate where 200,000 new passengers might come from. But with respect to the minister's observations and hopes around increased ridership, significant investment has been made by VIA in its rolling stock and in other capital areas over the last couple of years, and part of the objective of those investments is indeed to increase ridership. We know that the most intensive ridership is in the corridor between Quebec City and Windsor, particularly Montreal and Toronto, and the ridership numbers there have been looking good. There are also some improvements in ridership along certain other sections of VIA's network.

I think there is a hope, but it's more than a hope. There are some clear business plans on VIA's part to try to increase ridership through improvements in service, with frequencies matching service to customer expectations and also the quality of service on the trains. It's hard to quantify precisely what the results of that might be, but there's certainly a general business strategy to increase ridership over time.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Perhaps to you then, just a brief one, if I might, sir.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Well, very brief. You're eating into Mr. Adler's time.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Then I apologize. I'll defer to Mr. Adler.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Mr. Adler, you have four minutes.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Holder.

Thank you, Chair.

I do have a couple of quick questions. The Infrastructure people, the ADMs—you're all interspersed?

[Marie Lemay]

We're all in this.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

You're all there. Okay.

The infrastructure program that came out of the economic action plan has been looked at as the epitome of how the three levels of government can work together. Can you take us through it? Take out the political will and just walk us through the execution, through how that was all laid out, so we can learn from the example of how well that was executed. Those were all shovel-ready projects, all projects that led to employment, but more important was the level of cooperation among the three levels of government. Can you just walk me through that process and what we learned from that?

[Marie Lemay]

How long do I have to do that?

I'll start by telling you that the good thing about the number of infrastructure programs that we now have is that you learn from every one of them.

The economic action plan was very specific. I would say the big difference was the very precise timeline that really did force some action. We were able to build on everything that was already in place. We were able to streamline a lot of the processes and get to the finish line, and we'll be able to report very soon on the success of the program, actually, because it is a very successful program. We're in the process of doing some lessons learned, because we want to be able to apply some of the things we've learned to a next generation of programs if we have them. It would be kind of a waste not to. We have learned so much, and there are so many different things that to run through them all.... In general, it was mostly the streamlining and the focus, I would say, as well as many details.

We're going to try to replicate as much as we can the good that came out of it. There were some things that maybe we would do differently, but the good we'll try to replicate as much as possible.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

You have just a little over a minute.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Okay.

In terms of making the gas tax permanent, was there any discussion at the time of attaching any specific criteria to the money?

[Marie Lemay]

I was going to say there were a couple of statements, and I don't want to mislead you, so maybe I could send them back to you. A couple of things were said. If I'm not wrong, it was Minister Flaherty who talked about the banking and the borrowing as something that should be continued, but there wasn't anything about the criteria as such. That's where we're going to be in the next little bit. We're going to look at the terms and conditions specific to the gas tax, but some of the signals have been there in terms of continuity. We've heard from municipalities right across the country that they like the programs.

You try to stay as close as you can, I think, to what works, but this is something the government will have to decide in the very near future.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

There's nothing codified right now that defines it?

[Marie Lemay]

Do you mean in the present plan?

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

I mean in the current plan.

[Marie Lemay]

Oh, yes, in the current plan we do have categories. Actually the gas tax one is focused on environmental objectives right now, so you're talking about cleaner air, cleaner water, reduced GHG. There are actually six or seven categories, I believe. Those are focused categories.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

And are they open to negotiation in terms of any changes that could be made?

[Marie Lemay]

Do you mean for the next generation?

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

I mean for the next generation.

[Marie Lemay]

Again, this is something government will have to decide in the near future.